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October 26
1900s-1940s *1911 - Danny Murphy of the Philadelphia Athletics had four hits as the A's beat the New York Giants, 13–2, to win the World Series in six games. Philadelphia put the game out of reach with a seven-run seventh inning. *1931 - Charles Comiskey dies at age 72. The Chicago White Sox owner and pioneer player never recovered from the betrayal of the 1919 World Series *1934 - The Boston Red Sox acquire shortstop Joe Cronin from the Washington Senators for his counterpart Lyn Lary and an estimated $250,000. Cronin will hit .295 with 95 RBI in 1935, the first of his 11 seasons as a Boston player. *1940 - Detroit Tigers outfielder Hank Greenberg is named the American League MVP with Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller finishing second. Greenberg hit .340 with 41 home runs and 150 RBI, while Feller posted a 27-11 record with a 2.61 ERA. Having won the award in 1935 as a first baseman, Greenberg becomes the first player to win the MVP again playing a different position. *1949 - The San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League complete an Asian tour which includes five games in Japan. One of the Japanese games draws over 100,000 fans to watch the visiting team managed by Lefty O'Doul. 1950s-1960s *1950: **The Baseball Writers Association of America selected New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto as the American League MVP. He posted a .324 batting average with 200 hits and 125 runs, but drove in just 66 runs. Rizzuto, who received 16 of 23 first-place votes, easily outpointed runner-ups Billy Goodman of the Boston Red Sox and teammate Yogi Berra. **Walter O'Malley succeeds Branch Rickey as president of the Brooklyn Dodgers. *1960 - After operating the team in the nation's capital ever since Clark Griffith took over as manager of the club in 1912, Calvin Griffith, president of the Washington Senators, makes decision to move his club to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. In a move designed to get a jump on the National League in the expansion race, the American League announces that it will expand by two teams and approves the move of the Senators. The new AL teams will play in Los Angeles and in Washington, D.C., as all teams will play a 162-game schedule, with 18 games against each opponent. 1970s *1971 - Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics won the American League Cy Young Award by a 98-85 margin over Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers. Blue was 24-8 for Oakland, posting 301 strikeouts, eight shutouts and a 1.82 ERA, becoming the youngest pitcher to win the Award. In the National League, Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs received the honor. *1977 - Sparky Lyle of the New York Yankees became the first American League reliever to win the Cy Young Award. Lyle led the league with 72 appearances, posting a 13-5 record with 26 saves and a 2.17 ERA. *1979 - Commissioner Bowie Kuhn notifies Hall of Famer Willie Mays that if he accepts a position with Bally Manufacturing Corporation, owner of several gambling casinos, he must disassociate himself from major league baseball. Mays, a part-time coach and goodwill ambassador for the Mets, will relinquish his duties upon accepting Bally's job offer. 1980s *1982 - Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies became the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards. The 37-year-old lefthander, who led the National League in wins (23), innings pitched (295.2), strikeouts (286) and shutouts (six), was a previous winner in 1972, 1977 and 1980. *1985 - The Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Six of the World Series, thanks in part to a controversial ninth inning call by Don Denkinger. The umpire had ruled the Royals’ Jorge Orta safe at first base, when replays showed he was out. The Royals will go on to score two runs to win 2–1, forcing a seventh game. 1990s *1991 - Outfielder Kirby Puckett prevents two Atlanta runs with a leaping catch in the third inning and then lofts a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the Twins the lead in Game Six of the World Series. The Braves tie it in the seventh, but Puckett turned out the lights in the 10th with a home run to force a seventh game. *1995 - In the World Series, pitcher Orel Hershiser allows just two runs over eight innings and reliever José Mesa survives a two-run home run by Ryan Klesko in the ninth inning to give the Indians a 5–4 win over Braves in Game Five. *1996 - The New York Yankees clinch their 23rd World Series by defeating the Atlanta Braves, 3–2, in Game Six. Joe Girardi’s RBI triple keys a three-run rally against Greg Maddux. John Wetteland is named Series MVP after posting his fourth save. *1997 - Edgar Rentería ended one of the most thrilling Game 7 in World Series history, singling with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Florida Marlins their first World championship with a 3–2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. The five-year-old Marlins became the youngest expansion team to win the Fall classic. Pitcher Liván Hernández won the Series MVP award. *1998 - Potential free-agent All-Star catcher Mike Piazza signs the most lucrative contract in major league history when he agrees to terms with the New York Mets. The seven-year deal is worth over $91 million and includes having a suite on road trips and a luxury box for home games at Shea Stadium. 2000s *2000: **In Game Five at Shea Stadium, the Yankees win their third consecutive World Series, the fourth title in five years and record 26th World championship, by defeating the Mets, 4–2. Luis Sojo's ninth inning two-out, tie-breaking single off starter Al Leiter is the decisive hit. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter becomes the first player to win the All-Star Game MVP and the Series MVP honors in the same season. Joe Torre becomes only the fifth Manager to win four WS championships, joining Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy (7), Casey Stengel (7), Connie Mack (5) and Walter Alston (4) . *2002 - The Giants appeared destined to win their first World Series since 1954, when pitcher Russ Ortiz, tossing a 5–0 shutout, strikes out Garret Anderson to begin the seventh inning. But scoring six times in the 7th and 8th innings of Game Six, the Angels' rallied from five runs down to stage the biggest comeback in Series history for a team facing elimination and beat the Giants, 6–5, forcing a Game Seven. *2004: **In Game Three at Busch Stadium, Manny Ramírez hit a two-run home run as the Boston Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals, 4–1, for their third consecutive victory in the World Series. Pedro Martínez was the winning pitcher helped by relievers Mike Timlin and Keith Foulke as Jeff Suppan was the loser. **Prior to Game Three of the World Series, Edgar Martinez received the Roberto Clemente Award, an honor is given to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team. A native of Puerto Rico, the Mariners designated hitter like the award’s namesake, is involved Parent Project/Muscular Dystrophy, Children's Hospital, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Big Brothers and Big Sisters. *2005 - In the World Series, the Chicago White Sox completed a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 1–0 victory in Game Four. Freddy García pitched seven shutout solid innings, Series MVP Jermaine Dye connected a RBI single off Brad Lidge in the eight for the only run of the game, as Juan Uribe added strong defensive support at shortstop. García became the first Venezuelan starter to win a World Series game. He also accomplished the feat with good friend and fellow countryman Ozzie Guillén at the helm, who managed the White Sox to earn its first World Championship since 1917. Births *1859 - Frank Selee, Hall of Fame manager (d. 1909) *1866 - Kid Gleason, infielder (d. 1933) *1889 - Tommy Griffith, outfielder (d. 1967) *1918 - Snuffy Stirnweiss, All-Star infielder (d. 1958) *1936 - Elio Chacón, infielder (d. 1992) *1948 - Toby Harrah, All-Star infielder and manager *1949 - Steve Rogers, All-Star pitcher *1949 - Mike Hargrove, All-Star infielder and manager *1950 - Wayne Garland, pitcher *1951 - Steve Ontiveros, infielder *1961 - Gus Polidor, infielder (d. 1995) *1965 - Gil Heredia, pitcher *1969 - Mark Sweeney, outfielder *1972 - Armando Almanza, pitcher *1974 - Marty McLeary, pitcher *1978 - Jaime Cerda, pitcher *1983 - Francisco Liriano, pitcher Deaths *1931 - Charles Comiskey, Hall of Fame player, manager and executive (b. 1859) *1984 - Gus Mancuso, All-Star catcher (b. 1905) *2004 - Bobby Avila, All-Star infielder (b. 1924)